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Tesla Motors (TSLA) shares are skyrocketing this morning after Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jones raised his rating on the electric car company's stock stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, setting a $70 price target and declaring the company to be "America's Fourth Automaker."

"The confluence of structural industry change, disruptive technology, changing consumer tastes and heightened national security creates an opportunity for significant new entrants in the global auto industry," he writes in a research note. "California dreaming? We don’t think so. In our view, the conditions are ripe for a shake-up of a complacent, century-old industry heavily invested in the status quo of internal combustion. The risks are high. So is the opportunity. Enter Tesla."

Jones writes that he is convinced electric cars will make up a "significant minority" of global light vehicle sales in the medium-term - and eventually will account for a majority of vehicle sales.

For Tesla to stay independent, he writes, the company is going to have to offer mass-market vehicles in the $30,000 price range, he writes. "We see a path to a company with $9.5 billion of sales, [greater than] $1.2 billion of operating profit and [greater than] $1 billion of free cash flow by 2020" he writes.

He notes that the firm's target price implies almost 200% upside. "As is not uncommon with start-ups, the biggest question is if Tesla can remain solvent long enough to capitalize on the forthcoming technological break-throughs," he writes.